


Have you heard the news that you're dead?

by camichats



Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [178]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, First War with Voldemort, Good Regulus Black, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury Recovery, Kidnapping, M/M, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: When Sirius gets captured by Death Eaters, everyone tells James to accept that he's never going to see him alive again. In the search to find him, Regulus joins up with James.
Relationships: Sirius Black/James Potter
Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [178]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/752925
Comments: 8
Kudos: 106





	Have you heard the news that you're dead?

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: “Prompt: Can I get a first wizarding war fic where one of them is captured by death eaters and the other stops at nothing to find them/get them back safely. Thank you!”

James froze in place. He hadn't been moving very much to begin with, but now it was like he'd been petrified. His ears were ringing. It felt like he couldn't breathe. "What?" he managed to say. That couldn't be right-- but then, what else could have Peter in such a state? 

"They captured Sirius," Peter repeated, lips quivering and tears still streaming down his face. It didn't make any more sense the second time than it had the first. 

Getting captured by Death Eaters was as good as a death sentence. Order members didn't make it out from that. They'd get captured, and a week or so later, their mangled corpse would be found. It had happened enough times that they knew the pattern. "No," James pushed past numb lips. No, that couldn't happen Sirius. It just- it _couldn't_ happen. James would die before he let that happen to Sirius. 

"I saw it happen," Peter insisted, even though it was obvious he wasn't in a good enough space to be convincing anyone of anything-- especially convincing James that he should give Sirius up for dead. 

"Then why didn't you stop them?" James yelled, not aware that he was stepping closer to Peter until Lily put a hand on his arm and held him back. 

"They were waiting for us," Peter said, trembling. The more he talked about it, the more nervous he got. It was like it got more real for him the more they talked about it. "There were so many of them- as soon as we got there, they- they-" 

"James," Lily said quietly, and Peter covered his mouth with one hand, eyes wide and horrified; it was hitting him that he was never going to see Sirius again. "I'm sure Peter did the best he could. It's a miracle he was able to make it back here. Sirius was his friend too." 

"He's not dead," James snarled, ripping his arm away and disapparating back to their flat with a loud crack. How could they give up on him so easily? This was _Sirius_. The Death Eaters had a vested interest in keeping him alive for a pretty long time. They'd torture him, yes, but they'd want him lucid for most of that. When the time came-- _if_ the time came-- they'd kill him slowly, but that would give James more time to find him. He'd need as much time as he could get, especially since he was doing this alone. Peter and Lily wouldn't help him; it was clear that they already thought James should start grieving. Remus _couldn't_ help because he was busy with something else-- and hell if James knew what that something else was-- so he couldn't ask him for help either. 

He could find Sirius. He _knew_ he could, but at the moment, he was so stressed out that his mind was barely working. 

* * *

He felt so sodding stupid when he finally thought of it that he wanted to bash his head against the wall. Him and Sirius were bonded. They hadn't told anyone about it because it was illegal, and a dark ritual besides. But they'd tied their souls together. It had fallen out of practice when arranged marriages were no longer the norm, but they'd gone through the Black Family library when they were fourteen and found the ritual. 

It had probably been stupid for them to go through with it, but he'd never regretted it and he knew that it was the same for Sirius. They'd done it before they actually got together, which made it more stupid of an idea than it had already been. It made it all that better when they _did_ start dating though, because once they started, they both knew that they weren't going to stop. They'd taken their friendship and moved it to the next level before they'd so much as kissed. Being bonded had slid into their lives so seamlessly that he'd forgotten about it. 

Now that he was remembering they'd done it, he was ridiculously happy that they'd gone through with it before Sirius ran away. He could tap into that bond and find out exactly where Sirius was. He was pretty sure the original application of the ritual was to make sure that neither partner would murder their spouse because there were pretty severe consequences for that, and the book had warned that the other person dying would feel like someone was carving out your heart even if it wasn't by your hand that they perished. 

Point was, James now had a way to find him. There was some spell he'd have to cast to activate it, and the only problem was that he didn't remember it. The book was still in Grimmauld Place, so he'd have to go there to find it. He had better chances of getting inside Grimmauld Place than he did finding Sirius some other way. If it were easy to find captured Order members, they would've been doing it long before Sirius had gotten taken. 

He thought about sneaking into Grimmuald Place-- seriously considered it, because who the hell wanted to risk talking to Walburga voluntarily?-- but it he got caught before he could find the spell, his chances of finding Sirius tanked. He couldn't risk that. So he walked right up to the door and knocked. 

He knew that he looked a touch mad. His hair was more of a mess than usual, and his eyes were probably blood shot and hovering over dark circles since he hadn't gotten much in the way of sleep. He was pretty sure that he was wearing the same clothes that he had been when he got the news. 

Regulus was the one to open the door. He was more grown than the last time James had seen him, but he still looked like a kid. It was good that it was him; he was more of a pushover than either of his parents. "Potter?" he asked, frowning. "What are you doing here?" 

"Sirius is missing." 

"He's not here." 

"No shit. I need a book from your library." 

"We don't have any books on tracking," Regulus said. His eyes flitted down James's body, taking in his appearance. "How long has it been?" 

"Two days." Two days was more than enough time for irreversible damage to be done, but James was really hoping that the Death Eaters thought they had all the time in the world. If they rushed, he wouldn't be able to do anything, but if they were slow about it, he'd make it in time. A week, he reminded himself. The average time for finding Order members after they were captured was a week. Sirius had at _least_ three more days before James needed to worry. Well, worry more. 

Regulus swallowed. He glanced behind himself, then opened the door a little wider. Not much. An inch. James took it as an invitation and pushed it wider, stepping inside. He closed the door behind him and started heading to the library. Any time James had visited here, they'd spent almost all of their time in the library. It had books that couldn't be found anywhere else, and it didn't help that James couldn't remember the name of the book. He knew what it looked like. Him and Sirius had spent enough time staring at it and talking about the possibilities that the particular binding was seared into his brain. 

He heard Regulus follow him, but it was in the background for him. It looked like no one else was in the house, which was probably the only reason that Regulus had let him in. "Do you-" Regulus asked, then paused to swallow again. "Do you think he's dead?" 

"He's not." James would've felt it if he was. He was definitely still alive. 

"Then how's he missing?" 

"You might still be at Hogwarts, but I'm sure you've heard of Death Eaters there." He pushed open the library door. Merlin, he'd forgotten how massive this place was. Assuming that the books hadn't been rearranged though, he should still be good. He remembered which section it was in since every time they'd picked it up, they'd had to put it back where it was so no one knew what they were looking at. He headed over, but try as he might, he couldn't remember which shelf. He started scanning the spines. Faded crimson. Green lettering. 

"He was taken by Death Eaters?" Regulus asked, the barest tremble in his voice. "But- why would they do that?" 

James shrugged, then pulled his wand out and lit the tip. The lighting in this room was truly abhorrent. "Information. Maybe just to make him suffer." 

There was a long pause. James didn't know it was a pause while it was happening though. He thought that Regulus didn't have a good response to that and was going to watch him search in silence. "Take me with you." 

"What?" James asked, startled enough that he looked away from the books. 

"Take me with you," he repeated. 

"Yeah, I heard you the first time. No way." 

"Why not?" Regulus asked desperately, taking a step closer. 

James straightened from where he'd been hunched over to get a better look at the books. "For starters, I don't trust you. Last I heard, you were basically a baby Death Eater, and I don't have the time to waste watching my back while I'm trying to get him out of wherever the hell it is they're keeping him." 

Regulus looked at him evenly. Or as even as he could get when he was clearly nervous. "Is there a second point?" 

"You're underage. I'm not kidnapping you. And third of all, you wouldn't be able to get back to your normal life afterwards if I _did_ let you come. You do something like that, and they'd kill you the next time they saw you. I can't imagine they're very kind to traitors considering how they treat the rest of us." 

"I don't want to join them," Regulus said, gripping his arm desperately. "but I can't- they won't let me say no. Take me with you. I don't care if I never come back." 

James could honestly say that he hadn't expected this when they'd started talking. "What?" 

"Please," Regulus said, and there was no way to pretend like he wasn't begging now. "I know things. I'll tell you everything I know. Just take me with you." 

"You don't know anything important," James said, which wasn't really what he'd meant to say, but he was living off of a two hour nap and about twenty cups of coffee. The filter between his brain and his mouth was extremely thin right now. 

The look on Regulus's face said that he knew that. "Maybe not, but I know something that the Dark Lord doesn't want _anyone_ to know." 

James had a few choices here, and the one that was the fastest was to agree so that he could get back to looking for the book. Besides, he didn't actually want to leave Regulus out to dry. Regulus had done him a favour by letting him come in this easily, and for that alone, James owed him. Even without that though, he'd help anyone get away from the Death Eaters if they asked. And Regulus wasn't just asking, he was begging. "Fine, you can stay at our flat until this is all sorted." They'd have an extra room after Sirius got back anyways, since James had no intention of leaving him alone for eight hours at a time while he was healing. "I'll bring you there before I go get Sirius." 

"I want to help you rescue Sirius." 

"Do you even know how to duel?" 

"I'm alright," Regulus said, but 'alright' by Black Family standards meant wicked good compared to everyone else. He probably wouldn't be able to take on any of the real threats, but James could handle them. Besides, the point of this was to get in and out as quick as they could, not start a fire fight; Sirius wouldn't be in any sort of condition to fight, and with James carrying him, he wouldn't be either. 

"Fine, you're in. But you listen to me. None of that snark you're all so fond of." 

"All?" Regulus asked, dropping his hand from James's arm and frowning at him. 

James turned back to the bookshelf. Faded crimson, green lettering. "Every member of the Black Family that I've met acted like the conversation was a competition. You don't get to do that. I say shut it, and you listen. I say run, and you run. Got it?" 

"Got it." 

"Can you apparate?" 

"I'm too young for a license." 

"That's not what I asked." 

"I can, but the Ministry can track that, and the Dark Lord is basically running that place. You know that, right?" 

James nodded, then moved to the next shelf. "If things go sideways while we're there, you apparate away, and I'll come back for you." 

"If you have Sirius, you won't remember me," Regulus accused. 

"Right, because that's what I want to tell him. That his brother helped me find him, but I left him for dead. Like it or not, Reggie, you're part of the group now." 

"Don't call me Reggie," he snapped. "I've been part of this for thirty seconds; it's not really long enough for you to give a shite." 

"Actually, you were a part of this from the moment you let me in without a fight. I won't forget about you, I swear. In an emergency, you go to Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. I'll come get you." 

There was a moment where he didn't answer, grinding his teeth together. "Fine. If I die because of you, I'm coming back as a ghost specifically to make your life miserable." 

"Wouldn't that make you a poltergeist?" 

"Poltergeists are artificially created, dumb arse." 

"Oh yeah. Glad to see you're comfortable enough to call me names." He moved to the next section. He was close. He felt like it he reached out his hand, he'd be able to touch it. "That reminds me, I hear the 'm' word come out of your mouth, and I'm going to be pissed. We clear? I want to help you, but I'm not going to let you do whatever the buggering hell you want." 

"Relax, Potter, I know how to edit my language." 

"If we're going to be committing questionable acts together, you might as well call me James." 

"Fine, _James_. What are you looking for?" 

"If I knew the name, this would be a lot faster." 

"I told you that we don't have any books on tracking." Regulus glanced towards the library doors. "You need to hurry up." 

"I could be faster without someone chattering in my ear," James said with a scowl. 

"My parents could be back any minute, and if they find us in here, we're dead." 

"I haven't come this far just to be killed by your sodding mother. They show up and you prepare yourself for sidealong apparation. Got it?" 

"Got it," Regulus said, swallowing nervously. 

James's eyes glanced over the book, then shot back. He yanked it off the shelf to take a look at the cover, excitement growing. 

"Is that it?" 

He nodded, dropping to the ground so he could look through it faster-- holding a wand in one hand wasn't going to help his speed. There wasn't a table of contents because that would be too easy. Merlin, what had it said? This book was separated by the different rituals it contained, so he just needed to find the chapter with the one that they'd done. He started flipping the pages quickly, eyes scanning the words for anything that looked familiar. 

James was strung out. He could admit that. He was having some pretty hard mood swings, which meant that he felt like he was flying when he found the right entry. "This is it!" He started to scan the page eagerly, but his eyes were glancing over the words without comprehending any of them. "Bugger it, I'm stealing this," he said, slamming the book closed and tucking it under his arm. He wasn't going to waste anymore time in this house than he needed to, especially with the threat of Orion and Walburga coming back. His head would be clearer when he was in his own flat, feeling safe-- and not feeling like someone was going to curse him in the back at any moment. "Let's go." 

"I need to grab something from my room," Regulus said. 

"We don't have time for you to pack," James said as they hurried from the library. Would he love to be more sympathetic? Yes. Did he have the emotional space for that right now? No. He didn't have the room to give a shite about anything but Sirius. 

"It's one bad, and I already have it packed." 

"Fine," James said and left it at that even though in the back of his mind, he was wondering how bad it must've been for Regulus if he already had a bag packed and ready to go. He'd think about that once Sirius was back with him, safe. 

Regulus ran up the stairs, and James followed him out of habit. Sure enough, Regulus went straight to his wardrobe, plunged a hand into the back, and pulled out a knapsack. It probably had an expansion charm on the inside, otherwise it would be too small to get him through more than a couple days. They made it outside without any incident. Regulus gave a half-wistful glance to Grimmauld Place before he left, and James apparated them out on the front stoop. 

Back in James and Sirius's flat, James pointed Regulus towards the spare room-- officially, it was Sirius's room, but they'd been sharing a bed since before they ever moved in here-- with the vague direction of, "You can stay in there while he's getting better." 

Regulus gave him a loaded look before walking towards the room. James knew that he meant something by it, but he didn't know _what_. James opened the book back up, and Regulus tossed his bag in the room. Rather, he set it very gently by the inside of the door like he was afraid the offer was going to be rescinded at a moment's notice. He took a moment to stand in the doorway and really think about the enormity of what he'd just done. He'd left; he'd really done it. He'd never thought that he'd actually do it. 

Now that he'd found the entry once, it was easy to find again. All of the information about the ritual and what could be done with a couple once they were bonded was right at his fingertips. It didn't even take a full minute of reading for him to find the location spell. A map, blood, and an incantation. His own blood was readily available, and the incantation was simple enough. The initial ritual had been rather complicated, but all the spells they had access to afterwards were pretty easy. 

The part of the spell that took the longest was finding a map. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen, but he had to run down to the muggle store at the corner to get a map. By the time he got back, Regulus was sitting on the couch, looking awfully uncomfortable in the flat that he'd never once been in before. 

It was only once James had the map spread out in front of him, wand on the floor and knife in one hand that Regulus leaned forward like he was truly paying attention. "This is blood magic." 

"Well spotted," James said sarcastically. 

"I thought you lot didn't believe in using dark magic." 

"Speak for yourself," James muttered, because he didn't want to admit that him and Sirius hadn't told anyone about what they'd done. He made a cut on his arm and held his arm over the map so his blood started to drip onto the paper. "The whole ritual was dark; we didn't let that stop us." 

Regulus went quiet, leaning back again to watch. It was clear that he had something else he wanted to say, but he bit it back. James was grateful for that; he didn't want to put off finding Sirius even longer than he'd already done. 

* * *

After everything else he'd done to find Sirius, the act of grabbing him was pretty easy. Regulus got seen, and that was a bit dicey when it happened, but they managed to get out of there before anyone else could show up. James got Sirius back, and neither of them got hurt in the process. James was going to call it a roaring success. 

As much as James wanted to stick Sirius in their flat and hold onto him until they both felt better, he had to bring him to St. Mungo's. There had been so much blood when he found him, more than he'd thought a person could lose and still live... 

He shook his head to get rid of the thought. He brought Regulus to their flat first, because he knew that was safe and it's not like he could bring a newly branded traitor of the Death Eaters to a public space. Hell, he wasn't even leaving _Sirius_ there, and Sirius was the one that could really use the constant care. 

He brought him in, they did an initial sweep to take care of him, and then James brought him home. They told him not to-- requested, technically, but it was obvious that if they _could_ force him to stay, they _would_. James knew enough to keep him alive after that, but he'd needed to make sure that there wasn't any internal bleeding or summat. 

* * *

"'m I home?" Sirius mumbled once he woke up. He had one eye open blearily-- the other was sort of swollen shut. He had a thick cut along one side of his face, near his hair line; it would leave a scar when it healed. Right now, it was covered with a bandage, so there wasn't space between Sirius's swollen eye and the edge of the bandage. James knew that eventually, Sirius would be well enough to complain about it, but it would be far enough in the future that it wouldn't be a problem. They'd both be safe. James would be able to kiss him and tell him that everything was okay, and it would be true. 

"Yeah. How do you feel?"

Sirius's throat worked as he tried to wake himself up a bit more. "Alive." He blinked gingerly, his focus roving over to James once he had the presence of mind to do it. "You came for me." 

"Of course I did," James said, smiling softly at him. "And before you freak out when you see him, Regulus is here." 

It took a minute for that statement to make it through Sirius's addled brain, but when it did, he frowned in confusion. "Why's he here?" 

"It's sort of a long story. I just wanted you to know in case you see him." James leaned down and pressed a featherlight kiss to Sirius's head. He knew that most of Sirius's body was bruised in some way, but hopefully that hadn't hurt him. "Go back to sleep; you need to heal." 

"And sleeping's the way to do that?" 

"Pretty sure," James said. 

Sirius hummed tiredly, eyes already sliding shut. 

"I love you," James said, and Sirius made a small noise to show that he'd heard him. He probably tried to say it back, but with everything in his system right now, it was something of a miracle he'd managed to talk as much as he had. James kissed his head again, then left to go check on Regulus. Now that he'd gotten a little bit of sleep, he had to deal with that. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a prompt driven blog @[imaginejamesandsirius](https://imaginejamesandsirius.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Feel free to drop by!


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